Ignition system.



c. F.KET TERING.

IGNITION SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. I4, IQIO- 7 1,167,762, I v I Patented Jan.11,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

C. F. KETTERING.

IGNITION SYSTEM.

. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 14, I910. 1,167,762. I Patented Jan. 11,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- UNITED STATES PATENT orrrcn.

CHARLES F. KETTERING, OF DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE DAYTONENGINEERING- LABOBATOBIES CO.,' CORPORATION OF OHIO.

IGNITION SYSTEM.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARL S F.IETT ER me, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Dayton, county of Montgomery, and State ofOhio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Ignition Systems, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

' This invention relates to ignition systems such as are used forinternal combustion engines, and relates more particularly to what maybe called a duplex system in which alternative sources of energy such asbattery and magneto, are utilized for supplying current to the ignitionsystem.

It isone of the particular objects-of this invention to provide anautomatic device connected with the control lever which controls theadvance and retard of the spark, which mechanism will automaticallythrow in the battery as the source of energy over certain ranges ofmovement of the spark control lever, when for example. the magneto isnot sufliciently effective because of too great advance or retard; Forexample by means of this device, the spark control lever, in startingfrom its zero position, or

position of greatest retard of the spark,.

moves over a certain range or number of degrees of movement, duringwhich ,timethe battery alone is operating the ignition system. Then at acertain point of advance of the spark control lever (and of courseadvance of the spark), the magneto becomes eilective. Then when thecontinued advance of the spark has reached such a numher of degrees ofmovement that magneto current becomes insuflicient, as it would in thecase oi corresponding too great retard,

the battery again becomes effective automatically. Means are alsoprovided for cutting out this automatic device altogether.

so that the ignition system runs solely from the battery independent ofthe magneto. In this manner the device may be used even though themagneto gets out of order.

Another object is to provide an ,improv 'd form of blocking device andlatch for the spark control lever so that the lever cannot be returnedunintentionally, .to zero position where the current is absolutelybroken, but can if desired be thrown into such a position to cut off theignition current entirely. But this device is also so arranged that thelever can then be moved away from Specification of Letters Patent.

the Zero position without any manipulation of the latching device.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved duplexarrangement of the timer used for making and breaking the magneto andthe battery circuits.

\Vith these and incidental objects in View,

I Patented Jan. 11, 1916. Application filed November 14, 1910. SerialNo. 592,292.

the invention comprises certain novel ar-' rangements of parts, apreferred form of embodiment of which isshown in the accompanyingdrawings forming part of this specification. I ()t'said drawings, Figure1 is a diagrammatic view showing the arrangement of the ignition circuitincluding my automatic device. Fig.2 is a detail view of the. sparkcontrol lever connected to the makeandbreak device for advancing thespark and to the automatic device for controlling the battery and themagneto. Fig. 3 is a detail tail views of the blocking and latchingmechanism for the spark control lever.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the ignition circuit isarranged as follows: The battery 20 is connected to a currentinterrupter or locking relay 21 comprising a low resistance coil-22 anda high resistance coil 23, the cores of which coils act upon .anarmature 24 so as to break the main contact at the point 25, when therest of the circuit is connected, which thereupon breaks the maincurrent flowing through the low resistance coil 22 and the main leadwire 26 and thus gives the necessary sparking impulse to the inductioncoil presently to be explained. The high resistance coil 23 acts as alocking coil to hold down the armature 24until the current is broken atthe timer, this high resistance coil 23 being then in series in thecircuit from the wires 27 and 28. This results in producing a singlespark in the induction coil foreach contact of the timer. A condenser 29is shunted around the contact make-and-break point 25 in a well knownmanner. A key switch 30 is provided,'to cut out the locking coil 23 whenthe switch 30 is open, so

, 7 top plan view of the timer or make-and-.

25 later explained.

as to cause the coil 22 to act as an ordinary vibrator with a successionof sparks when desired.

Before describing the automatic control 5 for throwing the battery intoand out of circuit,'the other parts of the ignition circuit, comprisingthe timer, the magneto, and the induction coil, will be described stillreferring-to diagrammatic Fig. 1. The tuner is of aduplex sort, forsimultaneously operating the magneto make-andbreak and the batterymake-and-break, this for the purpose of using the timer in this duplexsystem in which either the battery or the magneto is used as the sourceof energy, and

in fact some of the tune both are effectwe;

The timer shaft 40 is provided with operating cams 41. The contactdevice for the battery side of the circuit comprises a contact arm 42which is fast to the pivotal block 43 and is at its other end adapted tomake 42 and block &3 are connected by wire 47 to the ground. Similarlyfor the magneto circuit, there is a contact arm 52, pivotal block 53,stationary contact point 54, connecting wire 55 to the magneto and aresilient operating arm 56 engaged by the timer cams 41. This pivotalblock 53 is likewise grounded through the wire 47. The magneto is shownat 60. Its armature is grounded by the wire 61 and the other side isconnected by the wire 62 on one side to the timer contact 54: and on theother side by the wire 63 to the induction coil. This induction coilcomprises the primary coil 70 which is grounded at one end and at theother end is connected to the aforesaid wire 63; and also said inductioncoil includes the secondary coil 71 connected at one end to the wire 63and at the other end to the spark-gap 72 in a customary manner, saidspark-gap being grounded and the spark being used for the desiredignition purposes. A condenser 73 is connected between the wire 63 andthe ground. It may be added here that the wire 74 leads from anintermediate point on the primary coil 70 to the battery 20. The reasonfor having the battery connected at thls intermediate point as comparedwith the point of connection of.

the magneto to the primary. is that the hat tery needs less turns of theprimary coil than the magneto in order to get efiective impulses. Itwill be seen that when the timer cam 41 closes the magneto circuit atthe contact point 54 the magneto is then short-circuited to ground; andwhen the oontact is broken at the point 54:, the kick-back sends thenecessary impulse through the wire 63 and through. the primary of theinduction coil sufliciently to cause the spark. Since the magneto is runfrom the same engine shaft as the timer, the eifectiveness of themagneto current depends upon the point of time at which the circuit isbroken at 54 with relation to the point of revolution of the armature ofthe magneto. This is a well known matter in connection with the use ofmagnetos for this purpose and it is a matter of common knowledge as tothe advance and retard of the spark by the control of the timer toproduce quicker or later breaking of the circuit and consequentsparking, with reference to the position of the magneto.

There is an effective range of movement of the timer over which themagneto gives a desirable and efficient current for ignition purposes.Any greater range of current is such as to make the magneto current tooweak in that it has not risen to its proper amount or has dropped to toolow an amount. This range is usually spoken of as a range of 30 degrees,these measured with reference to the rotation of the crank shaft of theengine. The result is that when it is desired to get a greater range ofmovement of advance and retard of the spark some other means than themagneto must be employed as an alternative source.

It has heretofore beencustomary to use a battery as an alternativesource for the ignition circuit, such battery being used for thestarting of the engine and for low speeds. Then when the engine speedsup, a hand switch is operated which throws the magneto into operationand the-same is then utilized with a range of advance of movementapproximately as referred to above. When the engine slows down for anyreason whatever,it has then been necessary for the operator to throw thehand switch over again to throw the battery into operation. In mypresent invention I make this all automatic and under the control of thespark advance lever. That is, starting the spark control lever, which isconnected with the timer, at

its zero position, the first extent of movement of the lever, as for 20degrees, makes use of the battery circuit. Then at about the end of thatrange, the magneto becomes effective, and when effective as such. thebattery circuit is automatically cut off so that the ignition circuit isrunningv under the magneto alone. This endures for a range of say 30degrees for the magneto. Then reaching the end of best efiiciencv forthe magneto, the battery circuit is again thrown into connection. Thisautomatic device will now be described more in detail, in connectionwith Fig. 1. The controlling plate 80, pivoted at 81, is formed withsegmentalprojections 82 and 83, and with notches 84 and 85. A

pointer 86 working over an are 87 represents automatically the rangesand degrees of movement referred to. The wires 26 and 28 alreadyexplained in the-battery circuit are connected by a wire 90 to a contactpoint 91' spark impulse sent through the primary 70.

of the induction coil due to the breaking of the contact at the point 25in the battery circuit. That is, in this position of thecontrollingplate 80, the battery circuit is effective. \Vhen however thecontrolling plate 80 is moved so that the pointer. reachesthepointmarked 20 degrees on the arc87, the switch 92 then isspring-returned by its own resiliency into the notch 85 so that contactis broken at the point 91. This entirely cuts out the'battery circuiteven though the timer makes contact at the point 44. It is from thisrange of the pointer from 20 dcgrees to 50 degrees as marked on the are87, that the battery circuit is cutout and during thistime, the magnetoalone is effective due to the making and breaking of the contact at thepoint 54 bv the timer.

As a matter of fact it may be -and. prefera blv is true, that themagneto is partially effective to give a slight amount of current in addtion to the battery current before the projection 82 rides off of theswitch 92'to break the current at the point 91. This is only however forthe early and weak stage of the current from the magneto it beingunderstood of course that the timer shaft 40 and theicontrol plate 80are connected or geared together and to the spark advance lever as willbe shown more in detail later. The effective range then of the magneto.alone is from approximately the 30 degree 50 amount previously"referred to and during which time the switch lever 92 rests within thenotched portion 85. From beyond 50 degrees howeverthe controlling plateis then in such position that its projection 83 againoperates the switchlever 92 to-close contact at the point 91 and thus again bring thebattery circuit into effectiveness. This is sov that when the spark hasbeen advanced by the control lever beyond the point of bestefliciencyfor the magneto, the batterymay again automatically take upthe work of supplying the ignition circuit.

It will be seen that when the controlling plate 80 is rotated so thatthe pointer occupies the diagrammatic position represented by the zerodegree marked on the scale 87, the notched portion 84 is broughtopposite the switch 92. This results in breaking of the battery circuitat this point and thus cutting out the battery. The point of retard ofthe spark-at this point is so great that the magneto is entirelyineifective. Therefore no current at all flows through the ignitioncircuit and the ignition system is dead. In order to prevent the leverfrom being unintentionally thrown to this zero position and thusentirely cutting off the current, a blocking and latching device isprovided which will be described later.

Since, as above stated, there are times when the battery and the magnetoare operating together, it is desirable to have the sparking impulsesoccur both in the battery circuit and in the magneto circuit at the same"time. For this reason the timer is so constructed that the contact ismade at the point 44 for'the bat-tery by one of the cams 41 at the sametime the other contact point 54 is broken for the magneto by anotheroneof the cams 41. The exact construction of this timer is shown more indetail in Fig. 3, some of the elements of which timer are shown in myco-pending application Serial No. 564,737, filed June 3, 1910. In thisFig. 3 the make-and-break elements on the timer shaft and cams are shownas numbered as in diagrammatic Fig. 1, the contact points 44 and 54being connected with their respective binding posts to join the leadWires 45 and 55 above referred to. Some of the further. details of thismakeand-break device are shown and described in my co-pendingapplication Serial No. 564,7 37 filed June 3, 1910. "In order to advanceand retard the spark, a lever 100 is provided which is connected to thecasing 101 which carries the aforesaid make-andbreak device. ,In factthis entire casing, carrying all the parts except the timer shaft andcam, is freely revoluble by the lever 100 about the timer cam shaft as acenter. This results in making it possible to change the time ofsparking by turning the lever 1'00 and thus rotating the entire casingor breaker-box as it is sometimes called, thus making the timer camsstrike the contact arms 46 and 56 at an earlier or later periodaccording to the position of the lever 100. As previously explained, thetimer shaft and contact elements are so arranged that -when the magnetocircuit is broken at the erence to their cooperating contact arms as toproduce the effect mentioned, the contact arms in the presentcase beinglocated opposite two ad oinmg tlmer cams 41. The

connection between the spark control lever and the timer and theautomatic circuit control will now be described particularly withreference to Fig. 2. The spark control lever 110 is shown as locatedupon a wheel 111 such as is ordinarily the location in automobiles whereignition devices are used for the gas engines, in which 111 representsthe usual steering wheel for such automobiles. The lever 110 travelsover a bearing segment 112, and is connected by a link 113 to theaforesaid lever 100 which controls the breaker-box or the advance andretard of the spark as previously explained. The lever 100 is alsoattached by link 114 to the aforesaid controlling plate explained inreference to diagrammatic Fig. 1, this control plate'controlling theswitch 92 to automatically throw the'battery in and out of the ignitioncircuit as already explained.

As shown in Fig. 2, the spark lever 110 is at zero position, and in suchposition the notch 81 of the control plate 80 stands opposite the switch92 so as to break battery circuit. In this condition the ignitioncircuit has neither the battery as a source of energy nor is the magnetoeffective at this stage because of the retarded position of the sparklever. This results in affording a quick shut-off for the ignitioncircuit all controlled by the actuation of the spark lever itself. Sinceit is desirable not to have the spark thrown back to this zero positionto cut off the ignition circuit unintentionally a blocking and latchingdevice is shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The block 120 is movably mounted inthe supporting segment 112 over which the lever 110 travels. This block120 is beveled on the side toward the zero position of the spark lever,but on its opposite side presents an abrupt block to prevent the leverbeing moved into zero position unless the latching knob 121 is pulleddownward against its spring tension, thereby pulling downward on theblock 120 and allowing the lever 110 to pass until it comes against theabrupt stop 122. This puts the spark lever in its zero position with theignition circuit dead, and does not occur unless the operator hasintentionally pulled down on the latching knob 121. It will be seen thaton account of the beveled side of the block 120, the spark lever canthen be freely moved away from zero position to ward the spark advance,without any manipulation of the latching knob 121.

Referring again to Fig. 2 it will be seen that as the spark lever 110 ismoved forward to advance the spark by connection to the lever as aboveexplained, this also rotates the plate 80 and causes the projection 82to operate the switch 92 to throw in the battery as the source of energyfor the ignition circuit. Then when the notch 85 is reached for thefurther spark advance, the

merges battery is automatically thrown out of operation, this being theeffective range of the magneto advance. Then when the spark lever hasadvanced so far as to leave the magneto ineffective or ineflicient, therojection 83 again closes the switch 92, thereby automatically bringingthe battery circuit into play. In the event that the magneto should getout of commission so as to be inoperative, it will be seen that thenotch 85 would then leave a certain range of movement of the spark leverin which range neither the battery nor the magneto would be supplyingcurrent to the ignition circuit. To obviate this possible difiiculty Iprovide a switch 130 shown in diagrammatic Fig. 1 which is adapted to0108s contact at the point 131 which is connected by the wire 132 to thelead wire 45. It will thus be seen that when the switch 130 is closed,the battery circuit is completed through the locking relay and throughthe wires 26 and 28, switch 130, and wires 132 ,and 45, thus entirelycutting out the automatic control so that thebattery is in circuit forall the time independently of the position of the controlling plate 80.This therefore takes care of the difliculty of the magneto becominginoperative.

In Fig. 4 I have shown apparatus which may be used mechanically foroperating the automatic controlling plate 80. The lever 1430 is pivotedat 141 and connected to a segmental gear 142 meshing with the gear 143formed on the controlling plate 80. Thus by connecting together theaforesaid breaker-box lever 100 and this lever 140, the automaticcontrolling plate 80 is moved in the manner just describedwith referenceto Fig. 2.

The general form of apparatus shown in Fig. 1 is similar to what isshown in my aforesaid mentioned co-pending application Serial No.564,737, in which said application the timer is inclosed in an'apparatus of this sort. That is, if such apparatus embodies the timerdevice in itself, the lever 140 may be utilized to control the timer toadvance and retard the spark and also in the same apparatus control thegear 142 and controlling plate 80. But in the form which I have shown indetail, the timer control lever 100 and the lever 140 are separatelyembodied and are connected together as shown in Fig. 2.

It is to be understood that the construction herein shown and describedis only a preferred form of embodiment of the invention and that thesame may be embodied in other forms all coming within the spirit orscope of this invention.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. In an ignition system, the combination with an ignition circuitincluding a spin-1c ing device and a battery and a magneto as tardedspark range, cutting out the battery for the range of effectiveness ofthe magneto, and cutting the battery into circuit again for the advancespark range beyond the effective advance of the magneto.

3. In an ignition system, the combination with an ignition circuitincluding a sparking device and a battery and a magneto as energizingsources therefor; of means for controlling the spark advance and retard;and means connected with and operable by said spark'controlling meansfor connecting the battery into the ignition circuit for retarded sparkrange, cutting out the battery for the range of effectiveness of themagneto, and cutting the batteryinto circuit again for the advance sparkrange beyond the effective advance of the magneto; with provisions forcutting out the battery when the spark control means is in its positionof extreme retard.

4. In an ignitionsystem, the combination with an ignition circuitincluding a sparking device and a'battery and a magneto as energizingsources therefor; of means for controlling the spark advance and retard;and means connected with and operable by said spark controlling meansforconnecting the battery into the ignition circuit for retarded sparkrange, cutting out the battery for the range of effectiveness 0 themagneto, and cutting the battery i to circuit again for the advancespark ran'ge beyond the effective advance of the magneto; withprovisions for cutting out the battery when the spark control means isin its pdsition of extremeretard; and a latch-device for blocking themovement of the spark control means into such extreme retard positionuntil the latch is operated.

5. In an ignition system, the combination with an ignition circuitincluding a sparking device and a battery'and a magneto as energizingsources therefor; of means for controlling the spark advance and retard;and means connected with and operable by said spark controlling meansfor connecting the battery into the ignition circuit for retarded sparkrange, cutting out the battery for the range of effectiveness of themagneto, and cutting the battery into circuit again for the advancespark range beyond the effective advance of the magneto; with provisionsfor cutting out the battery when the spark control means is in itsposition of extreme retard;and a .latch device for blocking the movementof the spark control means into such extreme retard. position until thelatch is operated, with provisions permitting the free movement of saidspark control means'away from extreme retarded position independently ofthe manipulation of said latch.

6. In an ignition system, the combination with an ignitioncircuit'including a spark-.

ing device and a battery and a magneto as energizing sources therefor;of means forcontrolling the spark advance and retard; and meansconnected with and operable by said spark controlling means forconnecting the battery into the ignition circuit for retarded sparkrange, cutting out the battery for the range of effectiveness of themagneto, and cutting the battery into circuit again for'the advancespark range beyond the eflective advance of the magneto; and a switchfor permanently connecting the battery in the ignition circuitindependently of said battery controlling means.

7. In an ignition system, the combination with an ignition circuitincluding an induction coil with spark device, a duplex energizingsource therefor .comprising a magneto in one branch circuit and abattery and interrupter in the other branch circuit, and a timer' commonto the magneto and the battery; of a spark control lever havingconnections with said timer for advancing the spark; and a device alsoconnected with and operable by the spark control lever for throwing thebattery into and out of the ignitioncirhcuit.

'8. In an ignition system, the combination with an ignition circuitincluding an. inductioncoil with spark device, a duplex energizingsource therefor comprising a magneto in one branch circuit and a batteryand interrupter in the other branch circuit, and a timer common to themagneto and the battery; of a spark control lever having connectionswith said timer for advancing the spark; a switch in said battery branchcircuit; and a controlling plate connected with erating cams, abatterycontact device and a magneto contact device, said pair of contactdevices belng located 111 1uxtapos1t1on to adjacent cams; means foradjusting therelative positions of the timer cams and said contactdevices to efiect advance and retard of the sparking; connectionsbetween the latter means and the spark control lever to control thespark timing; and a device also connected with and operable by the sparkcontrol lever for throwing the battery into and out of the ignitioncircuit 10. In an ignition system, the combination with an ignitioncircuit, including a sparking device, a single induction coil, and abattery and magneto as energizing sources therefor; said induction coilhaving a. primary winding of a predetermined number of turns; separateconnections between said energizing sources and the primary winding ofthe induction coil, the connections with one of said sources comprisinga greater number of turns of said winding than the connection with theother of said sources; of means for controlling the spark advance andretard; and means connected with and operable by said spark controllingmeans for selecting the electrical source to be connected with theignition circuit, and thereby controlling the primary winding as to thenu mber of turns included in the ignition circuit.

11. In an ignition system, the combination with an ignition circuit,including a sparking device and a battery and electric generatingmachine as energizing sources therefor;'of means for controlling thespark advance and retard; and means connected with and operable by saidspark controlling means for cutting the battery into and out a of theignition circuit; and switch means operable to cut the battery into theignition circuit, independently of the action of the means connected tothe spark controlling means.

memes 12. In an ignition system, the combination with a plurality ofelectrical sources; circuit connections including sparking devices,adapted to be connected with said sources; and means for controlling thetime of occurrence of the sparking impulses, and operable to maintainone of said electrical sources in connection with said circuitconnections, throughout the range of operation of said means.

18. In an ignition system, the combination with an ignition circuit,including a sparking device, a battery and a magneto as energizingsources therefor; of means for controlling the spark advance and retard,said means having a determined range of operation; means for maintainingthe magneto in the ignition circuit at all times; and means connectedwith and operable by the spark controlling means for throwing thebattery into and out; of the ignition circuit.

145111 an ignition system for combustion and explosion engines, thecombination with an ignition circuit, including a sparking olevice; anelectric machine efi'ectually operable as a source of current for saidingintion system throughout a determined range of engine speeds; of abattery: circuit connections between said battery and the i nitioncircuit, but non-effectually operable during other ranges of enginespeed; and means for closing said battery connections to provide acurrent source for the ignition system throughout the range during whichthe electric machine is non-effective as a current source.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

CHARLES F. KETTERING. Witnesses:

J. B. HAYWARD, CHAS. D. BRONSON.

